Manel Kape may have cleared the final obstacle between him and a long-sought shot at the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight crown.
The former Rizin Fighting Federation titleholder was awarded an anticlimactic technical knockout over Asu Almabayev in the third round of their UFC Fight Night 253 main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Referee Mike Beltran stepped in to wave it off 2:16 into Round 3, even though Almabayev (21-3, 4-1 UFC) seemed to be lucid and defending himself.
Kape (21-7, 6-3 UFC) was the aggressor from the start.